Popular answers include:
- Logos
- Websites
- Design
- Consistent colors and fonts
All of these are prominent aspects of creating a strong brand for your business, but have you thought about how your individual employees reinforce your brand? Often, style preferences are regarded as a factor in someone’s personal brand, such as social media influencers, entertainers, and artists, but even businesses can leverage clothing and elements of style to build a stronger brand.
How can a business dress code help you build your company’s brand?
Implementing a dress code for your business doesn’t necessarily mean requiring your employees to don formal business attire every day. After all, how your employees dress for work should reflect the values, style, and voice of your company’s unique brand. For some businesses, this might mean requiring employees to wear flip-flops and board shorts to work. For others, this will mean exclusively wearing suits. Maybe yours falls in the happy middle and your employees can wear a certain color t-shirt or polo with skirts or pants each day. It’s up to you to decide whether “business casual’ suits your brand or if more casual attire is fitting.
How can I enforce a dress code?
As a business owner, you have more important things to deal with than employees’ dress code violations, but when you consider how your employees’ attire reflects your brand, you can’t let them slide either. Help yourself and your employees by making sure your dress code is as clear and easy to follow as possible. Even if you prefer your employees to embrace casual dress, you can set some boundaries that help them choose what to wear to work without jeopardizing the presentation of your brand. For example:
- Aim for both consistency and flexibility. Target allows its employees some flexibility by simply requiring a red top and khaki pants. The colors are on point with Target’s brand, but employees are still given some flexibility over their style.
- Be mindful of budgets. Depending on how casual or formal your dress code, acquiring clothes that meet the new dress code might be difficult for some employees. Allowing some room for flexibility and putting a transition period in place can alleviate these concerns.
- Consider providing some branded attire. Investing in collared shirts, socks, or jackets that reflect your company’s brand (style, colors, logos, etc.) and gifting these to your employees can
Boosting your brand with a dress code will take time, planning, and clear communication, but it could be well worth your efforts. To get started, consider customizing your dress code color requirements and providing your employees with a few pairs of socks that feature your brand’s colors and/or logo. They can even be used as gifts for new clients!